Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company 

The  Yazoo  &  Mississippi  Valley  Railroad  Company 


THE 

FACTS  ABOUT  THE 
SHOPMEN’S 
STRIKE 


Prepared  by 


W.  L.  PARK 


Vice-President  &  General  Manager 


Chicago,  October  12,  1911. 


3^1 


_r 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/factsaboutshopmeOOpark 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s 
Strike 


While  the  public  generally  is  aware  that  a  strike  of 
railroad  employes  is  in  progress  on  certain  western  railroads, 
there  are  apparently  few  who  are  acquainted  with  the  facts 
leading  up  to  the  dispute. 

As  the  railroads  are  public  utilities,  everyone  should 
know  why  there  is  a  strike  and  the  causes  which  brought 
it  about.  This  applies  to  every  employe  now  at  work, 
those  on  strike  and  the  public  generally.  One  of  the  roads 
involved  in  the  dispute  is  the  Illinois  Central.  Ever  since 
this  railroad  was  built,  it  has  been  known  as  having  the 
most  friendly  relations  with  its  employes  of  any  corporation 
in  existence.  It  has  always  recognized  organized  labor 
and  for  many  years  has  made  contracts  with  the  various 
unions  of  which  its  employes  are  members.  It  has  gone  to 
the  extreme  in  the  making  of  contracts  in  order  that  its 
employes  might  be  satisfied  and  to  continue  the  cordial 
feeling  that  has  prevailed  since  its  establishment.  In  fact, 
notwithstanding  that  its  rates  are  of  the  lowest  of  those  in 
the  Eastern  Group  of  railroads,  its  wages  and  working 
conditions  are  based  upon  those  in  effect  in  the  Western 
Group.  This  means  that  they  are  the  highest  wages  and 
carry  with  them  the  most  favorable  conditions  to  the 
employes.  With  these  brief  statements  of  facts,  it  may  be 
well  to  proceed  immediately  to  give  in  detail  the  causes  of 
the  present  controversy,  as  it  affects  the  Illinois  Central. 

For  many  years,  the  various  unions  of  shopmen 
employed  by  the  Company  have  made  contracts  covering 
wages,  hours  of  employment  and  working  conditions. 
Conferences  to  renew  these  contracts  were  looked  for  at 
stated  periods  and  it  was  freely  accepted  as  a  part  of  the  duty 
of  the  officials  to  meet  the  union  committees  and,  in  a 
friendly  way,  go  over  the  changes  desired  and  agree  upon 
them  amicably.  So  successful  were  these  conferences  that 
there  has  never  been  a  strike  on  the  Illinois  Central  based 
on  a  refusal  of  the  Company  to  meet  the  employes’  com¬ 
mittees  half  way. 


p 31077 


4  The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 

This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  the  Company 
officials  in  June,  last,  received  a  communication,  signed 
by  a  car  repairer  and  a  railway  clerk,  notifying  them  that 
a  System  Federation  had  been  organized  and  that,  as  soon 
as  the  demands  decided  upon  could  be  printed,  a  conference 
to  consider  them  would  be  asked  for.  The  officials  of  the 
System  Federation  said  that  they  represented  the  following 
unions : 

Brotherhood  of  Railway  Clerks, 

Brotherhood  of  Railway  Car  Men, 

International  Brotherhood  of  Blacksmiths, 
Boilermakers  and  Iron  Ship  Builders’  International 
Union, 

International  Association  of  Machinists, 
Amalgamated  Sheet  Metal  Workers’  Alliance, 
International  Association  of  Steamfitters, 

Painters,  Decorators  and  Paper  Hangers’  Inter¬ 
national  Union, 

Several  Federal  Labor  Unions,  composed  of  helpers 
and  laborers. 

When  the  communication  of  the  System  Federation 
officials  was  received,  it  was  found  that  seven  of  the  nine 
organizations  in  that  body  already  had  contracts  with  the 
Illinois  Central  which  required  that,  when  any  changes 
were  desired,  it  was  necessary  to  give  thirty  days’  written 
notice  before  any  consideration  could  be  given  them. 
Otherwise,  the  contracts  continued  indefinitely.  Two  of 
the  nine  unions  of  the  System  Federation  had  no  contracts 
with  the  Company.  The  management,  therefore,  declined  to 
meet  the  System  Federation’s  Committee  because  of  its 
contracts  with  the  seven  unions.  There  had  been  no 
objections  to  any  of  those  contracts.  They  were  still  in 
existence  and  no  notice  had  been  given  that  changes  were 
desired.  The  Company,  therefore,  told  the  System  Feder¬ 
ation  that  as  the  unions  with  which  it  had  contracts  had  not 
given  thirty  days’  notice  that  changes  were  desired,  no 
recognition  could  be  given  a  new  organization  claiming  to 
speak  for  them. 

The  officers  of  the  System  Federation  then  took  a 
strike  vote.  The  employes  were  told  that  if  a  strike  was 
voted  it  did  not  mean  one  would  be  called,  but  that  it 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


5 


would  be  a  force  to  compel  the  Company  officials  to  treat 
with  the  new  organization.  On  this  ground,  the  employes 
voted  to  strike  when  called  upon.  The  vote  was  not  taken 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  unions  with  which  the  Company 
had  contracts.  These  required  secret  ballots,  which  were 
not  taken. 

After  the  strike  was  voted,  the  International  officials 
of  the  unions  in  the  System  Federation  refused  to  sanction 
a  walkout  until  an  effort  was  made  to  get  an  amicable 
settlement.  They  also  investigated  the  methods  pursued 
by  the  officials  of  the  System  Federation.  The  International 
Executive  Board  of  the  Machinists  then  refused  emphat¬ 
ically  to  sanction  a  strike.  It  gave  the  principal  reason  that 
the  thirty  days’  notice  that  a  change  was  desired  had  not 
been  given.  Other  International  officials  also  admitted 
this.  After  several  days  of  investigation  and  conferences, 
the  International  officials  to  whom  the  question  of  a  strike 
was  referred  by  the  System  Federation,  announced  that  it 
would  not  be  indorsed  but  that  another  strike  vote  must 
be  taken.  This  was  to  be  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
respective  unions.  All  of  them  required  a  secret  ballot. 
This  proved  that  the  International  officials  were  not  satisfied 
with  the  first  vote  taken.  The  letter  to  the  various  unions 
was  signed  by  the  respective  officials  of  the  nine  unions  and 
instructions  were  given  that  the  vote  should  be  returned 
not  later  than  October  10,  1911.  As  the  Machinists  had 
refused  to  sanction  a  strike,  the  letter  contained  this  state¬ 
ment  and  the  following  questions  on  which  the  employes 
should  vote : 

“It  has  recently  developed  that  several  of  our  large 
organizations  are  not  in  position  to  pay  strike 
benefits,  and  while  their  International  unions 
have  sanctioned  a  strike,  it  is  with  their  moral 
support  only.” 

Also  “That  the  question  has  been  raised  by  the 
Company  and  by  President  O’Connell,  Inter¬ 
national  President  of  the  Machinists,  as  to  the 
legality  of  the  notice  that  was  served  on  the 
Company  June  10th  by  the  officers  of  the  System 
Federation,  and  not  knowing  at  this  time  whether 
‘we  would  get  the  support  of  the  Machinists, 


6  The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 

we  request  each  organization  to  immediately 

call  a  special  meeting  and  proceed  to  take  another 

vote  according  to  your  respective  constitutions.’” 

“In  taking  the  strike  vote,  the  members  must 
have  in  mind  the  following  points  and  vote  upon  each  one 
separately : 

“1.  Will  you  vote  to  enforce  recognition  of  the  System 
Federation? 

“2.  Will  you  strike  if  the  Machinists’  International 
refuses  to  sanction  a  strike? 

“3.  Will  you  strike  regardless  of  financial  assistance? 

“4.  Should  the  demand  of  the  Company  that  the 
thirty  days’  notice  be  served  be  complied  with?” 

The  instructions  for  a  legal  strike  vote  to  be  taken  were 
sent  out  September  12th.  The  Machinists  met  in  convention 
September  18th.  A  week  later,  although  it  is  reported 
that  such  action  was  bitterly  fought  by  the  president  and 
many  other  leaders  of  the  Machinists,  the  convention, 
by  a  close  vote,  sanctioned  a  strike  on  the  Harriman  Lines, 
the  Illinois  Central  and  the  Grand  Trunk  Pacific.  The 
leaders  declared  that  they  would  not  lead  the  members 
employed  on  the  railroads  into  a  strike  which  they  knew 
would  result  in  defeat,  as  there  was  no  money  to  pay  strike 
benefits.  It  was  charged  that  the  Socialists  were  endeavor¬ 
ing  to  disrupt  the  trade  union  movement  by  getting  as 
many  strikes  as  possible  and  they  were  accused  of 
engineering  the  trouble  on  the  railroads  involved. 

It  was  this  action  of  the  Machinists’  Convention  that 
brought  on  the  strike,  although  the  employes  of  the  Illinois 
Central  had  not  yet  voted  legally  on  the  question  of  whether 
they  would  strike  to  compel  the  railroads  to  recognize  the 
System  Federation.  There  were  four  questions  to  vote 
upon,  only  one  of  which,  it  will  be  noticed,  was  settled  by 
the  action  of  the  Machinists’  Convention. 

Just  why  the  strike  on  the  Illinois  Central  was  brought 
about  none  of  the  officials  or  employes  have  the  least 
conception.  The  employes  of  the  road  were  preparing  to 
vote,  as  ordered  by  the  International  officials.  They  had 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


7 


ettled  down  to  consider  the  situation  from  the  changed 
onditions  into  which  it  had  developed.  It  was  no  longer 
t  question  of  “bluffing”  the  Company  to  break  its  contracts 
vith  seven  unions  to  make  a  contract  with  a  new  organi¬ 
sation,  the  benefits  to  be  gained  from  which  were  prob¬ 
lematical.  It  had  become  a  question  of  a  strike  for  recog¬ 
nition.  No  money  was  involved.  But,  before  the  vote 
could  be  taken,  the  strike  was  ordered.  The  Company 
officials  had  no  warning.  They  were  not  notified  in  any 
way  that  a  strike  was  to  be  called.  They  were  waiting  for 
the  results  of  the  vote  ordered  by  the  International  officials, 
not  considering  any  more  than  the  employes  that  the  action 
of  the  Machinists’  Convention  would  bring  on  a  strike  on 
the  Illinois  Central.  The  employes  were  also  astounded 
when  given  orders  to  quit  work.  They  had  settled  down  to 
a  belief  that  there  would  be  no  strike,  and  when  it  was 
called  they  were  shocked. 

Leading  labor  officials  in  the  United  States  are  not 
enthusiastic  over  the  System  Federation  plan  of  making 
contracts.  It  is  the  same  proposition  upon  which  the 
Knights  of  Labor  was  built  and  it  also  wrecked  the  organi¬ 
zation.  Each  trade  has  its  own  environment.  The 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  for  many  years,  has  refused 
to  adopt  a  universal  trade  mark  or  union  label  for  all  trades 
to  use.  The  reason  is  that  each  trade  will  think  the  other 
trades  will  advertise  the  label  and  it  will  not  be  necessary 
for  it  to  do  anything;  consequently,  none  would  do  it. 

In  the  proposed  System  Federation  of  the  Illinois 
Central,  the  trades  do  not  all  work  along  the  same  lines  nor 
would  they  when  called  upon  always  work  as  a  unit.  These 
labor  leaders  who  look  askance  at  the  System  Federation 
say  they  can  see  how  some  trivial  dispute  in  one  department 
can  plunge  the  workmen  in  all  other  departments  into  a 
disastrous  strike.  The  railway  clerks  are  members  of  the 
System  Federation  of  the  Illinois  Central.  They  are 
more  or  less  confidential  employes  of  the  railroad.  It  is 
an  open  secret  that  the  workmen  in  the  shops  regard  the 
clerks  as  being  nearer  to  the  railroad  officials  than  to  them. 
If  the  clerks  join  the  union,  the  railroad  officials  are  forced 
to  believe  that  they  would  be  more  loyal  to  the  union  than 
to  the  Company.  The  clerks,  therefore,  would  be  an 
endless  source  of  trouble  to  both  the  Company  and  the 


8  The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 

unions.  Nevertheless,  this  state  of  affairs  might  be  the 
cause  of  many  strikes  over  trivial  matters  made  important 
by  the  clerks. 

The  1894  strike  was  caused  by  the  refusal  of  the1 
American  Railway  Union  members  to  work  for  any  railroad 
that  permitted  Pullman  cars  on  its  trains.  There  was  no 
grievance  against  any  of  the  railroads.  The  railroad  men’s 
strike  in  Ireland  recently  was  not  because  of  grievances 
against  any  railroad  company.  It  was  because  the  railroads  ! 
hauled  lumber  for  a  company  not  in  the  good  graces  of  the 
employes. 

The  object  of  the  System  Federations,  as  the  railroad 
officials  see  it,  is  to  so*  control  the  labor  employed  on  the 
railroads  that  at  any  time  they  can  dictate  the  policy  of 
the  road  if  they  desire  to  do  so.  If  the  System  Federations 
gain  recognition  on  the  railroads,  they  will  be  extended  to 
manufactories  and  then  they  will  demonstrate  more  fully 
that  they  will  follow  in  the  steps  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  and  the  railway  men  of  Ireland.  If  a  manufacturer 
refuses  to  recognize  the  factory  federation  of  his  employes, 
then  the  System  Federations  of  similar  workmen  on  the 
railroads  can  refuse  to  permit  his  products  to  be  hauled 
over  any  line.  This  is  the  only  logical  outcome  of  the  plan 
of  organization  proposed.  Only  four  trades  were  in  the 
first  System  Federation  formed.  On  the  Harriman  lines 
of  the  West  there  are  five.  On  the  Illinois  Central  there 
are  nine.  The  broad  principle  has  been  announced  by  the 
System  Federation  of  the  Illinois  Central  that  “all  railroad 
organizations  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  are  eligible  for  membership.”  The  situation,  there¬ 
fore,  presented  a  more  serious  aspect  to  the  Illinois  Central. 
The  System  Federation  idea  had  gained  converts  and  it 
was  fast  becoming  uncontrollable.  The  difficulty  in  harmo¬ 
nizing  the  complex  characters,  nationalities,  habits,  employ¬ 
ments  and  requirements  has  already  become  a  problem 
to  the  organizers.  This  phase  of  organization  was  taken  up  { 
by  the  United  States  Commission  that  investigated  the 
American  Railway  Union  strike.  In  its  report,  it  made  this 
reference  to  unions  that  had  been  successful  because  they 
had  not  been  formed  on  the  same  plan  as  the  American 
Railway  Union: 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


9 


“The  trade  unionists  argue  that  their  strength  lies 
largely  in  their  comparative  freedom  from  these 
objections;  and  they  insist  that  the  basis  of  a 
successful  labor  organization  must  be  substantial 
similarity  in  interests  among  the  members.” 

Should  the  System  Federations  gain  a  foothold,  they 
would  overshade  and  have  greater  power  than  the  Inter¬ 
national  unions  whose  members  comprise  them.  The 
International  official  would  then  become  a  mere  clerk  with 
little  power  over  the  membership.  If  it  were  possible  to 
organize  a  System  Federation  on  every  railroad  in  the 
United  States  to  be  followed  by  the  formation  of  a  National 
System  Federation,  it  would  simply  be  the  American  Rail¬ 
way  Union  as  the  latter’s  organizers  hoped  to  see  it.  It 
would  have  ten  thousand  times  more  power  than  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  although  with  one-sixth 
membership.  The  latter  organization  cannot  order  a 
strike.  It  is  a  moral  influence  that  seeks  to  aid  all  other 
organizations  in  its  membership  in  times  of  trouble.  But 
a  National  or  International  System  Federation  could  order 
strikes  on  one  road  or  on  every  road  in  North  America. 
The  roads  would  be  at  their  mercy,  and  any  manufacturer 
who  might  be  objectionable  to  them  could  be  boycotted  out 
of  business.  In  order  for  the  American  Railway  Union  to 
have  been  a  success,  it  was  necessary  to  destroy  the  various 
brotherhoods  of  railroad  employes.  Edgar  E.  Clark, 
President  of  the  Order  of  Railway  Conductors,  during  the 
American  Railway  Union  strike,  in  his  testimony  before 
the  United  States  Commission,  said : 

“I  believe  the  majority  of  the  men  engaged  in 
any  one  trade  or  calling  should  have  a  right  to 
fix  the  conditions  under  which  the  men  in  that  trade 
should  work.  I  think  they  should  have  that  right 
uninfluenced  by  or  without  any  dictation  from 
any  other  organization  or  any  other  class  of 
employes.” 

Another  witness  whose  union  the  American  Railway 
Union  was  trying  to  disrupt  was  P.  H.  Morrissey,  then 
President  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trainmen.  He 
told  the  Commission: 


10 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 

The  American  Railway  Union  came  into  existence 
with  the  declaration  that  the  Brotherhood  of 
Railroad  Trainmen  and  kindred  organizations 
were  weak,  neffective,  and,  in  a  word,  were  playing 
nothing  short  of  a  confidence  game  on  the  men 
they  assumed  to  represent.  The  Brotherhood 
of  Railroad  Trainmen  for  a  long  time  has  been 
representing  certain  classes  of  men  in  the  train 
service,  and  presume  to  say  they  have  done  it 
as  effectively  as  could  be  done  under  trades  union 
principles  or  as  a  labor  organization. 

“The  American  Railway  Union  came  into  the  field 
saying  we  were  weak  and  ridiculed  every  earnest, 
honest  method  used  by  our  organization  to 
achieve  good  for  the  men  they  represent.  When 
we  failed  it  was  a  subject  for  ridicule  by  the  lec¬ 
turers  of  the  American  Railway  Union.  That 
naturally  produced  bitterness.” 

It  is  also  true  .as  at  present  that  in  1894  many  of  the 
unions  violated  their  contracts  by  going  on  strike. 

The  American  Railway  Union  was  formed  upon  much 
the  same  theory  as  the  proposed  System  Federation — “that 
the  trades  union  idea  has  ceased  to  be  useful  or  adequate; 
that  pride  of  organization,  petty  jealousies  and  the  conflict  of 
views  into  which  men  are  trained  in  separate  organizations 
under  different  leaders  tend  to  defeat  the  common  object 
of  all  and  enable  the  railroads  to  use  such  organizations 
against  each  other  in  contention  over  wages  and  working 
conditions,  that  the  interests  of  each  of  the  railroad  employes 
of  the  United  States  as  to  wages,  treatment,  hours  of  labor, 
legislation,  insurance,  mutual  aid,  etc.,  are  common  to  all, 
and  hence  all  ought  to  belong  to  one  organization  that 
shall  assert  its  united  strength  in  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  every  member.” 

The  Illinois  Central  management  stood  on  the  thirty 
day  clause  of  their  contracts  with  seven  unions  of  the 
System.  Federation.  It  had  been  mutually  agreed  upon  by 
the  unions  and.  railroads  and  undoubtedly  for  the  same 
reason  protection  against  hasty  action  in  an  emergency 
by  either  party  to  the  contract.  If  this  notice  had  been 
given,  the  management  would  have  had  an  opportunity 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


11 


( 


to  tell  why  objection  was  made  to  that  form  of  organi¬ 
zation.  The  union  officials  could  be  told  of  the  disastrous 
failures  of  the  past,  and  the  reasons  therefort'  as  well  as  the 
demoralizing  effects  upon  labor,  the  railroads  and  public. 
Many  of  the  employes  did  not  realize  what  the  System 
Federation  meant  to  them  and  could  not  in  the  absence 
of  the  usual  discussion  between  the  railroad  officials  and 
union  officials  act  intelligently  upon  a  subject  upon  which 
they  were  not  clearly  informed. 

I  Some  may  ask  why  conferences  were  not  held  with  the 
officials  of  the  System  Federation.  Since  signed  contracts 
have  been  made  by  the  railroad  and  employes,  both  sides 
have  been  insistent  upon  them  being  respected.  The 
employes  have  been  especially  emphatic  that  the  contracts 
be  followed  to  the  letter.  Should  a  contract  have  been 
made  with  the  System  Federation,  any  one  of  the  Inter¬ 
national  unions  holding  a  contract  with  the  Company  could 
have  charged  a  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Company. 

So  far  as  the  System  Federation  is  concerned  the  Illinois 
Central  management  makes  no  secret  of  its  opposition  for 
the  reasons  already  mentioned.  It  refuses  to  be  placed 
in  the  position  of  giving  any  encouragement,  even  by 
inference,  that  will  lead  its  employes  to  believe  it  will 
recognize  the  Federation.  Its  hope  that  the  thirty  days’ 
notice  would  be  given  was  to  permit  it  to  show  the  per¬ 
niciousness  and  utter  impracticability  of  such  a  combination 
of  employes.  Its  position  was  as  much  in  the  interest  of 
the  employes  as  the  stockholders.  It  did  not  seek  a  strike. 
It  was  believed  that  the  friendly  feeling  between  the  Com¬ 
pany  and  employes  would  not  be  thus  broken.  The  strike 
might  have  been  deferred  temporarily  but  its  effect  at  a 
later  date  might  have  caused  more  concern. 

It  can  readily  be  seen  that  this  is  not  a  fight  of  capital 
against  labor.  The  Illinois  Central  was  willing  to  fulfill 
its  contracts  with  the  unions.  It  believed  that  that  method 
of  bargaining  was  the  correct  one  and  had  rested  secure 
in  the  belief  that  the  employes  were  satisfied. 

Neither  does  the  controversy  mean  the  life  or  death  of 
the  crafts,  a  decrease  in  wages  or  the  imposition  of  harsh 
conditions.  Instead  it  is  a  defense  of  the  railroads  against 
unjust  and  unreasonable  conditions  under  which  it  could 
not  continue  to  operate  successfully. 


12 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


Public  Opinion  as  Expressed  in 
Leading  Newspapers 


Thinks  I.  C.  Strike  Was  111  Advised 

Waterloo,  la.,  Times  Tribune,  Oct  8,  1911. 

“It  is  unfortunate  that  men  who  have  local  interest  allow 
the  irresponsible  to  secure  control.  They  do  that  by  neglecting 
to  attend  meetings  and  to  elect  the  conservative  and  careful 
to  office,”  said  Most  Rev.  James  J.  Keane,  archbishop  of  Du¬ 
buque,  in  an  interview  last  night  at  the  home  of  Rev.  Father  , 
J.  J.  Hanley,  when  asked  his  opinion  on  the  strike  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railway  shopmen. 

“I  am  exceedingly  sorry  that  the  men  have  been  pursuaded 
to  go  out,”  he  continued,  “as  I  know  from  a  very  thorough  canvass  \ 
of  the  situation  through  the  west,  where  the  matter  is  being  agi¬ 
tated,  that  the  vast  majority  of  them  were  not  in  favor  of  it.  ! 
Not  only  do  the  men  neglect  to  elect  to  office  the  conservative  \ 
and  careful,  but  by  their  inattention  to  the  interests  of  the  unions  J 
they  permit  the  radical  element  to  advocate  and  strive  for  the  I 
introduction  of  impractical  principles  which  are  unjust  to  vested  ( 
interests  of  unionism. 

I 

“Some  of  the  matters  at  issue  in  the  present  strike  are  radi¬ 
cal,  so  radical,  indeed,  that  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  railroad 
company  can  yield  without  capitulating.  They  demand,  as  an 
instance,  the  time  of  service  and  not  merit  must  determine  whether 
a  man  is  to  be  promoted  or  not;  secondly,  that  a  man’s  personal 
record  should  not  at  all  influence  those  who  are  to  employ  him; 
and,  thirdly,  that  the  entire  body  should  be  made  to  suffer  in 
order  to  promote  the  presumed  interests  of  a  particular  craft. 

“I  believe  in  unionism;  I  believe  that  men  have  a  perfect 
right  to  unite  to  protect  their  interests,  just  as  capital  combines 
to  promote  its  interests.  Men  have  a  perfect  right  to  a  wage 
which  will  be  sufficient  to  support  their  families  in  comparative 
comfort  and  to  make  some  provision,  provided  they  be  economical 
and  industrious,  for  the  morrow.  But  the  good  which  unionism 
serves  to  promote  cannot  possibly  justify  the  introduction  into 
the  practical  conduct  of  unionism  of  principles  which  are  unjust. 

I  fear  that  some  of  the  principles  with  which  they  are  contending 
are  such,  and  I  believe  that  the  superior  minded,  upon  deliberation, 
will  have  the  courage  to  repudiate  what  is  wrong  and  to  abandon 
a  contention  for  what  is  not  just.  I  expect  that  within  a  short 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


13 


ti:ne  a  goodly  number  of  men  who  have  local  interest  will  have 
the  courage  to  return  to  work.” 

Archbishop  Keane  is  an  able  minded  man  and  speaks  upon 
the  strike  situation  after  having  made  a  careful  study  of  the  con¬ 
troversy  which  is  now  so  disturbing  to  the  commercial  interests 
of  the  localities  affected  by  the  strike.  He  spoke  with  a  firmness 
which  indicated  his  true  convictions  on  the  subject,  and  was 
very  emphatic  in  scoring  the  inattentiveness  of  the  conservative 
element  of  the  union  in  not  bringing  their  influence  to  bear  to 
avert  the  strike. 


More  Striking  These  Times 

The  Bessemer  {Alabama)  Weekly,  Saturday,  Sept.  30,  1911. 

The  clerks  on  the  Illinois  Central,  Southern  Division,  have 
entered  on  a  strike,  and  shopmen  at  various  points  in  sympathy 
with  them  or  on  account  of  rejection  of  their  demands,  are  going 
out  and  joining  them  in  the  strike.  The  clerks  seem  to  be  at 
sea  as  to  why  they  are  striking  or  abandoning  their  positions. 
They  are  all  under  contract  with  the  Company  to  give  30  days’ 
notice  if  they  wish  to  rescind  the  contract.  But  that  fact  does 
not  seem  to  merit  the  slightest  consideration  upon  their  part. 
While  it  is  obligatory  upon  and  enforceable  with  the  Company  it  is 
not  worth  the  paper  upon  which  it  is  written  in  binding  or  exacting 
responsibility  from  the  clerks. 

Up  about  Cairo,  the  clerks  claim  that  they  struck  because 
the  railroad  company  discharged  for  cause  three  clerks  at  East 
St.  Louis,  and  sending  three  clerks  from  Mounds,  Ills.,  to  replace 
them.  On  arrival  they  refused  to  go  to  work  and  they  were 
discharged,  the  Company  refusing  them  further  employment. 

At  the  lower  end  of  the  line,  at  New  Orleans,  .the  striking 
clerks  say  they  struck  to  force  the  Company  to  recognize  their 
union. 

It  seems  for  a  wonder  that  the  strikers  are  not  in  this  instance 
chanting  the  refrain,  “Higher  wages  and  better  conditions.” 
Their  wages  must  be  pretty  good  and  satisfactory  where  they  will 
/voluntarily  quit  their  employment  or  go  on  a  strike  and  not 
demand  an  increase. 

As  a  matter  of  course  the  clerks  if  not  under  contracts  have 
complete  right  to  quit  work  or  go  on  a  strike  at  any  time.  But 
it  looks  a  little  singular  if  clerks  or  any  one  having  lucrative 
employment  during  these  hard  and  depressing  times,  would 
risk  losing  their  employment  or  forfeiting  their  positions  because 
five  hundred  miles  from  there  three  men  were  discharged  for 
cause,  or  because  their  employer  declines  to  recognize  an  organi¬ 
zation  among  them  that  simply  menanced  his  interests  and  ques¬ 
tioned  the  management  of  his  business. 


14 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


However,  “it  is  according  to  one’s  liking,”  as  the  old  woman 
said  when  she  kissed  her  cat.  If  they  wanted  to  strike  for  such 
reason,  that  was  their  lookout.  If  the  management  of  the  Com¬ 
pany  has  the  American  spirit,  their  striking  simply  permanently 
severs  their  relation  with  the  Company  for  all  time  to  come. 
They  are  of  a  class  that  cannot  be  trusted,  or  relied  upon.  Their 
allegiance  is  not  to  those  who  employ  them,  but  to  some  so-called 
labor  boss.  They  would  absolutely  sacrifice  the  interest  of  their 
employer  at  any  time  at  the  behest  of  some  union  boss,  whom, 
out  of  their  wages  they  keep  in  idleness  to  guide  them  as  if  they 
were  driven  cattle. 

In  the  instance  of  the  present  strike  here  is  an  undeniable 
proposition.  That  unless  resort  is  had  to  lawlessness,  to  brutal 
force,  intimidation,  etc.,  the  strike  will  be  an  abject  failure,  the 
places  abandoned  by  the  clerks  will  be  filled  by  others  eager  for 
employment  and  the  regular  routine  of  the  business  of  the  Illinois 
Central  will  hardly  be  disturbed. 

The  strikers  started  out  scouting  all  intention  of  or  idea  of 
lawlessness  or  of  any  interference  with  the  business  of  the  Company. 
But  the  moment  they  saw  others  entering  the  employment  of 
the  Company,  doing  the  work  they  had  abandoned,  the  inherent 
union  deviltry  in  them  asserted  itself  and  they  commenced  brutal 
attacks  upon  the  new  employes  of  the  Company. 

It  is  this  feature  and  practice  of  unionism  that  should  damn 
it  in  the  estimation  of  any  just  minded  man  and  banish  it  from 
American  soil.  It  is  an  organization  which,  if  it  ever  reaches 
power,  will  destroy  all  semblance  of  American  liberty. 

Employers  cannot  afford  to  yield  to  union  aggressions  and 
tyranny.  If  the  first  surrender  is  made  abject  and  humiliating 
surrender  will  follow,  and  the  chains  are  riveted. 

Even  the  blind  can  see  the  tendency  and  forecast  the  purpose 
of  modern  unionism.  It  is  to  absolutely  control  industry;  to  form 
a  ponderous,  irresistible  trust  to  which  it  makes  subject  all  other 
interests. 

Can  American  citizens  stand  the  outcome?  Isn’t  it  better  to 
check  it  now,  when  it  is  comparatively  a  trickling  stream,  than  to 
permit  it  to  become  a  roaring  flood. 

The  remedy  for  the  employers  is  the  individual  control. 
Pick  his  best  and  most  reliable  men  and  contract  for  their  life 
work,  thus  insuring  permanency  in  their  employment.  They 
will  form  a  nucleus  upon  which  he  can  rely  if  labor  disturbances 
arise.  He  can  well  afford  such  higher  wages  and  old  age  con¬ 
sideration  for  their  loyalty,  and  reliance  will  always  count  as  a 
big  asset  in  business.  Else  the  large  employer  must  insist  that 
organizations  of  his  employes  must  be  incorporated,  that  they  be 
legally  liable  for  all  infractions  of  contracts  and  for  all  malfeasance 
of  members. 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


15 


Neither  Manager  Kruttschnitt  of  the  Harriman  lines  nor  the 
Illinois  Central  can  afford  to  yield  to  the  demands  of  the  union 
clerks  or  of  the  confederated  shop  men.  They  cannot  afford 
to  surrender  the  control  and  management  of  great  interests, 
involving  investments  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  to  employes 
like  clerks,  or  shopmen  like  blacksmiths,  tin  workers,  machinists, 
etc.  If  the  latter  do  not  wish  to  work  under  their  management 
it  is  their  right  to  retire  and  seek  more  satisfactory  employment. 

But  in  severing  their  relations  of  employer  and  employe,  if 
they  be  men  and  not  poltroons  and  cowards,  they  will  look  to 
other  sources  for  their  accommodations,  to  other  more  satisfactory 
alignments  and  not  resort  to  lawlessness  and  brute  force  to  coerce 
compliance  with  their  demands. 

The  Illinois  Central  at  this  writing  seems  to  be  having  but 
little  difficulty  in  employing  such  help  or  labor  as  they  need,  while 
those  who  struck  or  quit  their  employment  have  no  assurance 
but  idleness  as  the  result  of  their  action. 


Railroad  Clerks’  Strike 

The  Daily  Register ,  Clarksdale,  Miss.,  September  27. 

About  eight  or  a  dozen  men  went  out  when  the  clerks’  strike 
was  called  in  this  city  on  Monday  afternoon,  but  so  far  as  we 
are  able  to  learn,  matters  are  progressing  about  as  usual  at  the 
depot.  It  has  thrown  additional  work  on  local  agent  J.  W. 
McNair,  but  he  is  filling  the  position  very  satisfactorily  and  seems 
to  be  handling  the  freight  and  other  departments  to  good  advan¬ 
tage.  We  feel  sure  that  he  is  inconvenienced  to  some  extent  and 
there  might  possibly  be  some  delay  in  the  arrival  of  freights  until 
matters  adjust  themselves,  but  we  have  been  informed  that  no 
inconvenience  to  amount  to  anything  has  been  caused  by  the  strike. 
The  places  of  the  strikers  are  being  filled  in  Memphis  and  other 
places  with  unusual  promptness  and  will  doubtless  be  filled  here 
as  soon  as  they  can  be  secured.  The  Register  always  feels  kindly 
towards  organized  labor  and  naturally  likes  to  see  the  working 
man  get  a  fair  deal,  but  we  are  sorry  indeed  that  they  saw  fit 
to  strike  at  this  season  of  the  year. 

It  doubtless  means  meat  and  bread  to  a  number  of  them 
and  might  involve  outsiders  if  it  were  to  continue  to  any  great 
length,  not  saying  anything  about  the  loss  of  perishable  goods, 
delay  in  freight  and  other  things  attributable  to  a  strike.  When 
a  man  has  a  wife  and  several  sweet  little  children  depending  upon 
his  labors,  he  should  be  exceedingly  careful  and  think  long  and 
seriously  before  becoming  involved  in  a  strike.  In  many  instances, 
people  have  been  forced  to  move  out  of  the  community  as  a 
consequence  of  being  involved  in  same,  their  children  were 
deprived  of  the  advantage  of  a  good  school  and  his  good  wife 


16 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


the  loss  of  the  friendly  ties  of  neighbors  and  social  intercourse, 
and  many  times  they  have  gone  from  bad  to  worse  on  account 
of  an  unwise  move  on  the  part  of  the  head  of  the  family. 

Of  course  in  many  instances  the  labor  unions  are  just  in 
their  demands,  but  in  this  case  they  usually  receive  what  is  due 
them,  or  else  some  satisfactory  agreement  is  reached  before 
serious  trouble  occurs,  but  sometimes  they  overstep  the  bounds 
of  reason  in  the  demands  made  upon  their  superiors  and  some 
poor  unfortunate  person  has  to  suffer  and  bear  the  consequences 
of  their  folly.  As  a  newspaper  we  unhesitatingly  say  that  the 
employes  as  a  whole  of  the  Yazoo  &  Mississippi  Valley  are 
among  the  cleverest  people  in  the  world  and  have  been  faithful 
always  to  every  trust  reposed  in  them.  On  the  other  hand  the 
railroad  company  is  human  and  is  subject  to  the  same  conditions 
that  an  ordinary  citizen  has  to  pass  through  and  usually  has 
their  share  of  troubles,  and  we  are  also  in  favor  of  giving  them 
their  just  dues  and  according  them  the  treatment  they  deserve 
in  every  instance.  We  sincerely  trust  that  the  strike  will  be 
amicably  settled  before  any  damage  occurs  and  before  the  families 
of  those  interested  will  be  made  to  suffer.  It  is  always  well  to 
think  well  before  taking  a  step  in  the  dark  and  it  pays  to  do  right 
all  the  time. 


Peoria ,  111.,  Transcript,  Sept.  13,  1911. 

As  a  rule  the  ordinary  citizen  wastes  but  little  sympathy 
on  the  railroads.  But  the  fact  that  the  carriers  have  recently 
been  inhibited  from  raising  freight  rates,  compelled  to  lower 
passenger  tariffs  in  many  instances  and  at  the  same  time  vir¬ 
tually  forced  to  raise  wages  in  many  departments  arouses  the 
American  sense  of  fair  play  to  protest  against  their  being 
made  the  victim  of  a  strike  without  the  gravest  provocation. 


The  Railway  Labor  Combination 

New  York  Tribune,  Sept.  7,  1911. 

That  consolidation  of  railway  employes’  labor  unions,  recog¬ 
nition  of  which  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  and  the  other  so- 
called  Harriman  lines  in  the  West  are  refusing  corresponds  in  a 
sense  to  the  consolidation  which,  in  the  case  of  capital,  is  regarded 
as  dangerous  and  against  public  policy.  Even  the  arguments 
for  substituting  one  federation  of  railway  employes  to  conduct 
collective  bargaining  with  the  railroads  for  the  seven  crafts 
with  which  the  corporations  now  make  contracts  sound  strangely 
like  those  which  are  offered  to  justify  capitalistic  concentration. 
The  irony  of  being  told  that  a  single  federation  was  required  for 
the  sake  of  1 ‘economy”  must  have  struck  some  of  the  negotiators 
who  represented  the  railroads  in  the  recent  conferences. 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


17 


And  the  public  has  fully  as  much  reason  to  regard  with 
anxiety  the  proposal  to  concentrate  into  a  single  organization 
authority  over  the  labor  engaged  in  the  indispensable  public 
service  performed  by  the  railroads  as  it  might  have  to  fear  plans 
for  extensive  railroad  combinations,  like  that  of  the  Northern 
Securities  Company,  which  was  condemned  by  the  law.  One 
of  the  railroad  presidents  speaks  of  the  power  which  would  be 
in  the  hands  of  a  combination  of  all  classes  of  railway  employes, 
those  in  the  shops  as  well  as  those  engaged  in  actual  operation 
of  the  roads,  as  a  power  to  “throttle  commerce.”  That  is  no 
exaggeration,  so  greatly  would  the  relation  of  the  railroads  to 
their  workmen  be  changed  through  the  proposed  labor  com¬ 
bination.  And  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  combination 
would  be  totally  irresponsible.  It  would  not  be  incorporated. 
It  would  not  be  governed  by  any  of  the  public  service  legislation 
of  the  country,  which  has  gone  far  in  making  capital  engaged 
in  performing  a  public  service  recognize  that  it  is  “affected  with 
a  public  interest,”  but  which  has  totally  failed  to  hold  the  labor 
combinations  among  public  service  employes  to  a  similar  responsi¬ 
bility. 

Moreover,  this  proposed  combination  of  labor  unions  lacks 
the  justification  which  all  fair-minded  people  concede  to  exist 
in  the  case  of  the  unions  themselves.  Collective  bargaining  is 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  labor.  But  the  organization  of 
each  craft  by  itself  and  its  separate  recognition  by  the  railroads 
has  proved  adequate  to  secure  for  the  railroad  employe  fair  treat¬ 
ment.  Railroad  workmen  are  well  paid.  Advances  in  wages 
have  been  made  frequently,  the  latest  advance  occurring  last 
year  at  a  time  when  the  railroads  had  not  completely  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  the  panic  and  when  their  earnings  were  falling. 
Thus  the  public  can  see  no  reason  why  increased  power  in  bargain¬ 
ing  with  the  railroads  is  requisite  to  the  welfare  of  the  employes, 
and  it  can  see  abundant  reasons  for  regarding  with  anxiety  the 
placing  of  such  power  as  is  now  proposed  over  an  indispensable 
public  service  in  the  hands  of  an  irresponsible  and  legally  unregu¬ 
lated  labor  combination. 

The  Ill-Timed,  Ill-Advised  Strike 

Chicago  Record-Herald,  Oct.  1,  1911. 

It  would  be  unprofitable  to  discuss  again  the  issues  of  the 
general  strike  of  the  shopmen  or  mechanical  craftsmen  on  the 
Harriman  and  Illinois  Central  lines.  The  strikers  had  ample 
time  for  deliberation,  and  their  decision  is,  at  any  rate,  not  a 
hasty  one.  The  paramount  question  is  the  recognition  of  the 
federation  of  the  shopmen’s  unions,  and  the  railroads  have  not 
taken  their  position  against  recognition  without  a  careful  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  pros  and  cons. 

These  are  the  facts  of  the  situation.  It  is  likewise  a  fact 


18 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


that  shippers’  sympathy  is  not,  and  is  not  likely  to  be,  on  the  side 
of  the  strikers.  Several  impartial  commercial  bodies,  after  a 
thorough  discussion  of  the  issue  by  representatives  of  both  sides, 
adopted  resolutions  indorsing  the  attitude  of  the  railroads. 
Although  several  roads  have  recognized  the  federation  and  treated 
with  it,  the  business  community  generally  is  undoubtedly  inclined 
to  regard  the  strike  as  radical  and  unwise. 

One  more  fact  may  be  candidly  recognized.  The  strikers 
cannot  really  regard  the  time  and  industrial  conditions  as  aus¬ 
picious.  Railroads  have  had  to  lay  off  men  and  order  reductions 
of  expenses.  Many  railroad  employes  are  out  of  work.  The 
roads  will  suffer  no  immediate  inconvenience,  and  the  engineers, 
firemen,  conductors  and  brakemen  are  not  likely  to  become 
involved  in  the  struggle.  The  men  who  urged  the  strike  obeyed 
passion  and  resentment  rather  than  the  voice  of  sober,  sound 
sense.  They  did  not  profit  by  the  lesson  of  the  Irish  general 
strike,  which  collapsed  in  a  few  days,  or  of  the  British  railroad 
strikes,  which  were  called  off  when  public  sentiment  emphatically 
registered  disapproval  of  them  and  demanded  official  inquiry 
and  mediation. 


An  Ill-Advised  Strike 

Chicago  Inter  Ocean,  Oct .  3,  1911. 

From  any  viewpoint  save  that  of  the  dreamer  of  socialistic 
millenniums  the  strike  of  shop  workers  on  what  are  popularly 
known  as  the  “Harriman”  railway  lines  must  be  regarded  as 
ill-advised. 

With  short  crops,  with  business  lagging  in  almost  all  lines, 
with  the  general  reluctance  to  engage  in  new  enterprises,  it  is 
evident  that  for  some  months  there  will  be  less  work  for  the  rail¬ 
ways,  and^so  less  income  from  which  to  pay  out  wages. 

Aside  from  the  demand  for  increased  wages,  which  on  the 
Illinois  Central  alone  is  figured  to  mean  an  increase  of  expenditure 
of  $2,000,000  a  year,  some  of  the  demands  of  the  strikers  read 
as  if  formulated  by  socialistic  theorists  totally  ignorant  of  the 
actual  conditions  of  railway  work. 

With  the  national  government  on  the  one  hand  practically 
prohibiting  the  railways  from  raising  the  price  of  the  only  thing 
they  have  to  sell,  when  the  railways  are  required  on  the  other 
to  pay  more  for  what  they  have  to  buy,  the  railway  industry 
is  put  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones. 

What  the  strikers  are  really  fighting  against  is  not  so  much 
the  railway  management  as  the  national  government  in  its 
responsiveness  to  radical  agitation  for  governmental  regulation 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


19 


and  control  of  business,  regardless  of  natural  laws  of  supply  and 
demand. 

Under  such  conditions  something  is  bound  to  break  and  large 
numbers  of  innocent  persons  are  bound  to  get  hurt.  It  is  a 
pitiful  situation  for  these  deluded  men  and  their  families,  but  it 
is  what  is  always  likely  to  happen  when  we  insist  on  being  governed 
overmuch. 


Avert  the  Strike 

New  Orleans  Item,  September  10,  1911. 

The  ominous  announcement  that  the  shopmen  of  the  Illinois 
Central  have  been  ordered  by  leaders  of  their  union  to  hold 
themselves  in  readiness  to  strike,  can  be  received  only  with  a 
feeling  of  deep  regret. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  strike  ever  did  any  ultimate  good.  But 
it  is  a  dead  certainty  that  there  never  was  a  strike  that  did  not  do 
a  vast  deal  of  immediate  harm  and  frequently  cause  widespread 
suffering.  There  have  been  no  exceptions.  The  strike  of  the 
I.  C.  shopmen  would  be  no  exception. 

Those  who  are  shaping  this  threatened  industrial  catastrophe, 
its  LEADERS,  should  bear  this  truth  in  mind.  They  can  not, 
knowing  as  they  must  know,  where  the  blow  of  the  disaster  would 
fall  the  heaviest,  conscientiously  order  a  strike.  It  is  a  case  of 
being  honest  with  themselves.  The  strike  would  not  harm 
THEM.  They  are  the  leaders,  not  the  laborers.  It  WOULD 
harm  those  that  bear  the  burdens.  Worst  of  all,  the  full  force 
of  the  evil  would  fall  upon  the  wives  and  children  of  the  strikers. 
It  would  also  bear  heavily  upon  the  public,  most  heavily,  of  course, 
upon  those  least  able  to  bear  it. 

There  are  great  evils,  we  know,  which  sometimes  SEEM  to 
justify  other  evils  to  remedy  them.  It  is  doubtful  if  this  is  ever 
really  true,  but  some  exceptional  instances  of  grievous  wrong 
and  oppression  give  at  least  excuse  for  resistance  which  is  itself 
destructive. 

After  a  careful  and  impartial  study  of  this  controversy,  we 
can  find  nothing  that  would  justify  a  strike  at  the  present  time. 
Judging  from  the  expressions  of  all  sorts  of  papers,  representing 
all  sorts  of  opinions,  and  from  the  talk  of  the  people,  we  believe 
that  the  public  would  set  this  strike  down,  if  it  should  occur  now, 
as  unjustifiable.  If  the  PUBLIC  is  not  with  the  strikers,  their 
strike  is  utterly  doomed  to  failure  in  advance. 

In  the  present  case  a  statement  of  the  various  contentions 
has  been  issued  by  the  railroad.  It  seemed  to  impress  the  country 
as  fair.  The  other  side  has  let  this  statement  STAND  UN- 


20 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


ANSWERED,  so  far  as  we  know,  for  many  days,  though  the  shop- 
workers  have  been  free  to  use  the  press  to  answer  and  offer  the 
public  what  justification  they  can  for  their  attitude. 

If  the  new  federation  leaders  CAN  NOT  answer,  their  case 
is  closed,  so  far  as  the  public  is  concerned. 

With  the  facts  before  it,  the  public  is  inclined  to  believe  that 
only  a  few  of  the  organization’s  demands  are  justified  at  all  or 
even  open  to  serious  debate.  The  rest,  in  the  absence  of  any 
explanation  from  the  complaining  parties,  appears  UNTENABLE 
from  any  point  of  view.  None  of  the  demands,  so  far  as  we  can 
see,  is  based  on  any  complaint  strong  enough  to  justify  a  strike 
at  this  time.  The  question  of  recognition  of  the  new  Federation 
is  the  strongest  claim,  but  even  this  is  DEBATABLE,  in  the 
PRESENT  INSTANCE  in  several  particulars,  and  coupled  with 
the  other  demands  could  hardly  be  granted  by  the  railroads 
unqualifiedly. 

We  believe  that  this  diagnosis  represents  fairly  well  the 
opinion  of  the  public  in  general.  If  it  is  unfair  to  the  workmen, 
it  is  the  fault  of  the  Federation  leaders  for  not  explaining  and 
justifying  their  claims  before  the  public. 

The  Item  has  taken  neither  side  because  it  is  in  no 
position  to  judge  the  merits  of  the  case.  All  that  we  claim  is 
that  nothing  which  the  Federation  has  presented  SO  FAR  would 
justify  a  STRIKE  at  this  time. 

Aside  from  the  direct  privation  that  would  inevitably  come 
to  hundreds  vitally  concerned,  in  the  event  of  a  walk-out,  it  would 
be  committing  a  serious  offense  against  society  and  business  at 
large  to  tie  up  a  great  railroad  system  unless  a  great  principle  or 
a  great  wrong  were  forcing  the  workers  to  this  last  resort.  Neither 
of  these  seems  to  be  involved  in  the  present  dispute. 

Have  the  labor  leaders  a  RIGHT  to  impose  this  calamity 
upon  their  unions  and  upon  the  innocent  public?  Have  the  rail¬ 
roads  stubbornly  made  themselves  party  to  wrong  by  unfairness 
to  their  men?  We  can  not  conscientiously  say  “yes”  to  either 
of  these  questions. 

The  Item’s  attitude  toward  labor  and  labor  unions  is  too  well 
known  to  subject  it  to  the  charge  of  indifference  to  the  interests 
of  the  worker  or  of  favoritism  to  railroad  corporations.  Labor 
has  ample  cause  for  just  complaint  against  corporation-manage¬ 
ment  in  many  ways.  What  is  said  here  is  primarily  in  the  interests 
of  peace  and  the  general  public,  which  of  course,  includes  organ¬ 
ized  labor.  We  merely  assert  our  belief  that  the  Federation, 
in  this  instance,  has  not  made  out  a  case  that  would  justify  a 
strike,  and  that  a  strike  now  would  most  probably  do  the  cause 
of  labor  great  harm. 

Promoters  of  this  proposed  strike  should  remember  the  horror 
of  the  great  Pennsylvania  anthracite  coal  strike.  There  are 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


21 


many  other  similar  horrors  they  could  remember,  but  that  one  is 
enough.  They  should  take  honest  counsel  with  themselves  and 
then  do  their  duty  as  their  conscience  dictates. 

I  On  the  other  hand,  the  railway  officials  should  remember 

the  deserved  public  contumely  in  which  was  held  the  man  who 
stood  out  against  the  anthracite  miners. 

A  hastily-advised  strike  is  the  surest  means  of  slaying  public 
support  of  the  strikers’  cause,  and  high-handed  methods  in  dealing 
with  the  demands  of  labor  condemn  corporations  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  Both  capital  and  labor  must  remember  that  the  PUBLIC, 
in  the  end,  is  the  FINAL  JUDGE  and  EXECUTIONER. 

There  are  few  troubles  that  can  not  be  averted.  This  strike 
is  one  that  can  be  averted,  and  the  railway  and  strike  officials 
should  see  to  it,  in  the  face  of  their  obligations  to  the  public,  that 
it  IS  averted. 


As  to  a  General  Railroad  Strike 

New  Orleans,  La.,  Picayune,  October  11,  1911. 

The  statement  that  many  thousands  of  railroad  employes 
have  struck,  or  are  striking,  in  order  to  force  their  employers  to 
acknowledge  and  accept  the  authority  of  an  organization  which 
is  a  federation  of  all  the  other  labor  unions,  announces  the  attempt 
to  establish  an  additional  and  more  powerful  consolidation  of  the 
forces  of  the  labor  element  in  our  population. 

The  railroads  employ  among  the  members  of  their  working 
forces  persons  skilled  in  almost  every  branch  of  mechanical 
labor.  They  embrace  all  the  trades  that  are  combined  in  the 
building  and  repairing  of  railroad  locomotives,  cars  and  the 
various  appliances  that  are  used  in  the  operation  of  railway 
transportation.  The  men  engaged  in  these  various  occupations 
are  organized  in  their  specific  trade  unions,  the  blacksmiths  in 
one,  the  machinists  in  another,  the  carpenters  in  another,  the 
painters  in  another,  and  the  upholsterers  in  another,  and  so  on. 

The  employers  have  to  deal  with  each  of  these  trade  unions 
separately,  but  now  it  is  proposed  to  federate  the  numerous 
unions  into  a  single  body,  controlled  by  a  management  which 
speaks  for  all,  and  whose  command  all  must  obey.  Heretofore 
it  has  been  possible  when  some  controversy  arose  with  the  black¬ 
smiths,  only  they  had  to  be  settled  with,  while  all  the  other  trades 
were  not  complaining  and  were  apparently  satisfied,  but  under 
the  general  federation  proposition,  if  a  blacksmith  should  com¬ 
plain  of  his  relations  with  his  employer,  all  the  members  of  all 
the  federated  unions  would  be  bound  to  take  his  part,  and  if 
ordered  to  do  so,  to  strike  in  his  behalf. 


22 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


Such  a  proposition  not  only  vastly  increases  the  domination 
of  the  labor  element  over  the  employers,  but  it  establishes  an 
absolute  despotism  over  every  member  in  the  great  consolidated 
federation,  since  thousands  of  workers  whose  labor  is  necessary 
for  the  support  of  their  families  must  leave  their  employment, 
abandon  their  livelihood  and  subject  themselves  to  conditions 
of  complete  dependence  because  a  single  individual  in  the  entire 
federation  is  engaged  in  a  controversy  with  an  employer  some¬ 
where. 

Public  sympathy  has  been  repeatedly  with  strikers  where 
they  were  moving  for  higher  wages  or  shorter  hours  of  labor, 
but  in  the  present  case  no  such  important  interests  are  at  issue. 
The  demand  is  that  the  entire  organized  working  population  shall 
give  up  the  special  interests  of  their  particular  trade  or  calling  and 
place  themselves  under  the  control  of  a  governing  power  made  up 
of  a  small  oligarchy  of  individuals,  or  even  under  the  domination 
of  a  single  autocratic  ruler. 

The  common  idea  is  that  in  the  United  States  a  labor  union 
is  a  thoroughly  democratic  organization,  in  which  every  measure 
is  settled  by  a  popular  vote,  but  according  to  Henry  White,  former 
organizer  and  president  of  the  Garment  Workers’  Union  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  all  such  organizations  are  controlled 
by  an  autocrat  or  an  oligarchy,  in  both  of  which  he  was  most 
prominent.  Writing  in  the  World’s  Work  for  October,  he  says: 

“The  term  deader’  is  tabooed  in  union  circles.  However 
such  a  person  may  be  recognized  on  the  outside  he  has  no  exist¬ 
ence  inside.  The  officials  are  just  ‘servants’  and  the  will  of 
the  mass  presumably  alone  leads.  This  latter  concept  is  encour¬ 
aged  by  the  union  heads,  who  at  all  times  wish  the  members  to 
feel  that  they  merely  execute  their  wishes,  especially  so  when 
the  results  are  not  fortunate.  The  one  ambition  of  the  delegates 
at  the  national  union  conventions,  as  I  observed,  was  to  circum¬ 
vent  the  democratic  desires  of  the  mass,  to  have  their  own  way 
while  seemingly  consulting  their  constituents.  I  observed,  too, 
that  the  delegates  and  officers  encouraged  the  democratic  senti¬ 
ment  in  order  to  make  things  surer  for  themselves.  By  securing 
the  apparent  approval  of  the  body  of  the  members,  they  could 
dodge  blame  for  any  ill-conceived  move.” 

In  levying  an  assessment,  which  is  a  very  unpopular  move, 
the  method  which  insures  success,  according  to  the  writer  quoted, 
is  as  follows: 

“Now  the  ‘self-governing  masses’  were  as  averse  to  assess¬ 
ments  as  the  leaders  were  in  favor  of  them.  How  to  get  around 
this  unfounded  prejudice  became  the  topic  of  a  long  discussion. 
An  executive  session,  that  is  a  session  in  which  all  transactions 
are  secret  and  unrecorded,  was  called.  There  each  delegate 
was  pledged  to  a  plan  to  carry  a  referendum  vote  in  favor  of  the 
question  by  causing  a  small  attendance  at  the  meetings  at  which 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


23 


the  proposition  was  to  be  voted  on,  and  by  counting  the  absentees 
as  voting  in  the  affirmative.  The  national  executive  board  being 
the  court  of  last  resort  on  all  points  of  law,  the  success  of  the  plan 
was  never  in  doubt.  Before  the  motion  was  carried  every  aspiring 
delegate  had  to  be  assured  privately  where  he  ‘came  in’  on  the 
jobs.  In  the  discussion  of  the  proposition  of  imposing  a  tax  this 
way,  the  argument  was  made  and  generally  assented  to  that  the 
‘benighted  masses’  had  to  be  helped  against  their  will,  even  by 
strategy  and  force.  Since  the  members  were  unwilling  to  pay 
for  the  self-sacrificing  work  done  for  them,  a  way  had  to  be  found.” 

But  the  fact  remains  that  the  American  people  are  not 
nearly  so  much  devoted  to  democracy  and  popular  control  as 
they  are  represented  to  be.  Great  numbers  of  the  alleged  best  citi¬ 
zens  in  state  and  municipal  elections  do  not  go  to  the  polls,  and 
in  most  cases  they  are  controlled  by  their  political  leaders.  Con¬ 
tinuing  the  quotation  from  the  writer  mentioned  above: 

“The  selection  of  officers  was  simplified  by  the  predigestive 
process.  Before  this  order  of  business  was  reached,  it  was 
known  pretty  well  who  the  nominees  would  be  and  what  votes 
they  were  to  get.  The  canvass,  started  far  in  advance  of  the 
meetings  by  the  traveling  agents  of  the  head  office,  had  been  so 
thorough  as  to  leave  nothing  to  do  but  to  go  through  the  routine 
of  the  elections.  At  all  the  conventions,  excepting  the  earlier 
ones,  the  sameness  of  the  representations  from  year  to  year  was 
a  marked  feature.  The  faces  at  one  convention  could  be  counted 
on  to  appear  at  the  next.  In  the  personnel  of  the  national  officers, 
there  was  also  this  peculiarity.  It  seemed  as  if  a  settled  class 
of  placeholders  had  grown  up,  a  condition  best  adapted  for  the 
development  of  a  governing  trust.” 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  labor  union  has  become  one  of 
the  established  features  of  the  modern  industrial  situation,  it  is 
naturally  an  entirely  legitimate  subject  for  discussion  and  exami¬ 
nation.  Powerful  as  it  is  to  dominate  some  important  industries, 
its  weak  spot  is  that  it  embraces  only  a  limited  number  of  the 
working  people. 

This  is  because  if  it  attempted  to  include  all,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  find  employment  save  for  a  comparative  few. 
There  are  some  20,000,000  of  work  people  in  the  United  States, 
while  the  labor  unions  include  some  2,000,000  or  3,000,000.  But 
at  the  present  time  the  organization  exists  only  in  cities,  and  mostly 
among  the  skilled  laborers  in  various  trades,  but  additions  to  the 
skilled  ranks  are  constantly  coming  in  from  the  country  places 
and  villages,  and  the  numbers  may  become  greater  than  the 
unions  can  handle. 

This  is  the  reason  why  in  some  of  the  strike  cases  the  employers 
can  fill  the  places  of  strikers  with  skilled  help.  These  is  little 
doubt  that  in  a  strike  of  all  the  locomotive  engineers  in  this 


24 


The  Facts  About  the  Shopmen’s  Strike 


country,  railroad  traffic  would  come  to  a  dead  stand,  but  in  the 
matter  of  clerks  and  skilled  mechanics,  not  all  are  members  of 
the  union. 

In  all  probability,  in  case  of  a  complete  stoppage  of  railroad 
transportation,  the  suffering  for  food  and  other  necessaries  would 
be  so  great  and  so  general  that  the  railroads  would  be  forced  to 
resume  traffic  at  any  cost,  or  the  National  Government  would 
take  charge,  and  while  such  a  calamitous  happening  is  by  no  means 
in  sight,  it  would  be  the  summit  of  wisdom  to  revive  our  interior 
waterway  transportation. 

The  Railroad  Strike  as  a  Local  Issue 

New  Orleans ,  La.,  Picayune,  October  11,  1911. 

The  interstate  commerce  feature  of  the  railroad  strike  makes 
it  different  from  the  ordinary  strike  incidents,  in  the  fact  that 
the  power  and  prerogative  of  the  United  States  come  into  play. 

The  right  to  strike,  the  right  of  men  employed  by  the  day, 
or  for  longer  terms,  to  quit  work  at  any  moment  it  may  please  them , 
has  been  established  by  custom  and  recognized  by  the  courts 
without  regard  to  any  violation  of  contract,  and  under  ordinary 
circumstances  some  strikers  have  not  hesitated  to  take  active 
measures,  sometimes  violent,  to  prevent  other  persons  from  being 
employed  in  the  places  they  had  left. 

But  in  the  present  case  any  attempt  to  interfere  with  the 
employing  of  other  laborers  by  the  railroad  companies  comes 
under  the  prohibitions  of  the  Sherman  law.  It  is  held  to  be  a 
combination  in  restraint  of  interstate  commerce,  and  those  con¬ 
victed  under  it  are  liable  to  fine  and  imprisonment. 

The  railroad  companies  here  and  elsewhere  have  obtained 
from  the  United  States  courts  writs  of  injunction  to  prevent 
active  interference  with  their  business,  and  violators  of  those 
injunctions  will  get  into  trouble  with  “Uncle  Sam.”  It  is  there¬ 
fore  worth  while  to  take  note  of  that  fact. 

If  this  were  a  strike  for  better  wages,  for  shorter  hours  of 
labor  and  other  burdens  on  the  employes,  the  strikers  would  be 
sure  of  a  large  amount  of  popular  sympathy.  It  is  nothing  of 
the  sort,  however,  but  only  a  movement  to  place  a  vast  body  of 
work  people,  their  daily  living  and  that  of  their  families  in  the 
grip  of  a  small  group  or  oligarchy  of  managers  or  monarchs,  which 
is  a  matter  with  which  the  general  public  can  have  no  special 
concern. 

However,  whatever  may  be  the  reason,  the  strikers  are  only 
exercising  their  right  to  stop  work  and  to  stop  earning  whenever 
it  shall  please  them.  The  Company,  at  the  same  time,  is  privi¬ 
leged  to  employ  other  workers  in  the  places  of  the  strikers,  and 
this  is  one  of  the  rare  cases  in  which  they  are  protected  by  the 
laws  and  power  of  the  United  States. 


